Attack on the Unknown
by Department of Records
Summary: The year 7113. The entire planet Earth has been flooded due to Global Warming. Humanity had to move on to boats. Three ships named Ark Maria, Rose, and Sina carry the remains of humanities population. The Earth has become a dangerous place. Genetic mutants roam the watery manity has lived in fear for to long. The counter attack begins NOW! attackontheunknown.
1. Chapter 1

Beginings

Six years ago, Ark Maria was lost. Also six years ago, I told the most significant lie I will ever tell. I HATE BEING CALLED ALEX. Alex is not cool AT ALL. Alexander isn't much better. So I decided to change my name to Xander. Yep. It's a badass name. But because of that, every time I meet my councillor in the hallway, she goes "Hi, Alex!" with that ridiculous smile of hers, and I have to explain yet again to everyone in the hall that my name is XANDER AND NOT FREAKING ALEX. Okay... I'm calm now. So anyways, I guess I should explain everything that happened during and after the fall.  
I think I was the first one who saw the Titans. And I think I was the first one who screamed‐‐no. I know I was the first one to scream. And because I screamed, Jason turned around to look at me. And because he turned around so quickly, he didn't notice how close he was to the edge of the Ark. And because of that…. Jason… was the first to die.

It didn't really register in my mind what had happened to Jason. I went mute. It was like he just disappeared. One step... Two steps... Three steps... Four... I remember looking over the deck; looking at the deep, blue depths of the ocean. The surface was eerie calm. Where did all the Titans go? Where did… Jason?

You know how in books and movies, everything slows down? What happened after was sort‐of like that, except it was more like the adrenaline rush made me register things one by one in rapid succession. First, I heard the splash of Jason's body shattering the surface... Then the titan that came up and snapped his body in half. Then the screaming after that... The ship rocked aggressively as if a child was trying to get something out of a container. In the case of the ship though, the contents was the inhabitants of Ark Maria... And after that it appeared. Something I never thought I would ever see in my life. Standing before me was a titan. It wasn't just any titan though. This thing... it was MASSIVE! People said that the largest titans out there were less than 15 meters long. No but this... it had to be at least 50 or 60 meters long.

I don't know how I survived. I don't know what happened after that. I might have passed out or maybe I was just in a state of shock. I don't quit remember. But the next thing I remembered was being on a life boat with three other people and Ark Maria sinking behind us. I remember trying to swim back to the ship. I also remember people pulling me back. I remember hating them for days afterward. I remember feeling pathetic as I realized I wanted to live. I was so scared of dying.

So… Damn scared.

Like I mentioned, there were three other people on the boat with us. There was Stacy who was a middle age lady with her daughter named Marley. There was also this guy named Daniel who wore this sweater that was just a bit too large. It looked kinda funny from what I remember. Anyway, from what I also remember, we were on this life boat for about week. All of the days just blended together. Considering that our lifeboat was meant for eight people, we actually had more than enough supplies. There wasn't much talking on the boat. Each one of us stayed in our respective corners. The days dragged by. One morning however, was different. Before I get to that, I should describe the boat a bit. The boat, in shape, was a rectangle with rounded corners. There were four rows of seats on the boat and there was a small box with some food supplies. As I mentioned earlier it had quit the bit of supplies; Matches, 8 small water bottles, 3 cans of soup, 2 cans of fruit, 8 life jackets, 2 large blankets and a medical kit. You would think everything would be alright. You're wrong though.

It was 4 or 5 days after the fall. We had already run out of food, and only had 2 bottles of water left. Stacy and Daniel were having a huge fight about what we were going to do about this. The fight went on for about 3 hours until it happened. The two of them were getting to the point of pushing each other around. Unfortunately Daniel had phished a little too hard and… Stacy had fallen into the water. Since the water here on earth is so cold she had froze to death or drowned to death. I wasn't quite sure what happened first. The strange thing was right after she fell in there was no struggle of trying to escape. Maybe a titan got her and she was eaten. Who knows? Oh god the look on Marley's face when she saw her mother fall into the water. She must have felt like dying inside. I was pretty traumatized after seeing that as well. I tried talking to her the day after but she wouldn't respond.

After the accident Daniel started to act strange. He would pick at his fingers and chew on his bottom lip; sometimes to the point that he would draw blood. Daniel would sit down with his face buried in his knees, rocking himself repeating 'hungry...so hungry' over and over again. 3 days after though was when he did it.

It was maybe 1 or 2 in the morning? We didn't have any track of time so I couldn't tell. I heard the sound ripping. From what I remember I thought that it was either Daniel or Marley just moving around in their sleep. So I went back to bed. That's when I heard it. It was a low growl. I didn't want to know where the noise came from. There was another growl... my heart began to beat rapidly against my chest. It felt as if it would spring out of my chest. No... Not a titan. If it was a titan there would have been movement in the water, plus it would be a lot louder. Turning my head around to see where the sound was coming from, I saw the most gruesome scene I'd thought I would ever see. Daniel was... eating Marley. It was the most gruesome thing I had ever seen. Daniel had torn her throat open, and little bubbles of blood arose. It was then that I came to the horrifying conclusion that Marley was alive. Flesh and blood was spattered everywhere. That night was covered with flesh and blood.

Without realizing, I was screaming. Daniel turned his head around and looked at me with a terrifying glare. The gurgling sound that I hadn't even realised was there stopped. Marley died. Daniel, no, he wasn't Daniel anymore, reached a bloodied hand towards me. No. I didn't want to die yet. I wasn't ready to die yet. The man stepped away from the girl's body and slowly walked up to me. I couldn't move... I was frozen in a state of inactivity. Suddenly, he jumped on top of me, wrapping his fingers around my throat. It was extremely difficult to breathe. Before I knew it, he bit me. I screamed in pain. My whole body wash trembling violently. The feeling of my own blood trickling down my neck was mortifying. But then I felt something. Something deep within my gut had awoken. Suddenly, I jumped into action. I kicked the guy in the crotch making him fall back. Getting up, he tried to pounce on me. Luckily I was fast enough to dodge him.  
I didn't have any control over my body. It was as if there was some person controlling my every action. Running to the end of the boat as quick as possible, I opened the supplies box. A weapon, a weapon... where the hell is a weapon was all that was processing in my head. I was in a complete adrenaline rush.  
Bingo... there was a knife in the box. It looked more like a knife for spreading jam on a piece of toast but that was good enough. Swiftly grabbing the knife, I stood in position to attack. Fight... Fight... Fight... FIGHT! And with that I ran up to the cannibal and stabbed him. Over and over and over again. I didn't stop. "DIE YOU SON OF A BITCH!" I cried out as I continued to stab him in the chest. Even though he was dead I was afraid that he would come back so kept stabbing. After a good 5 minutes I stopped. Falling back, I dropped the knife. Usually in T.V or in movies the character would really give a crap if he or she had killed someone. This was the complete opposite. There was blood absolutely everywhere. All over the boat... all over the dead bodies... all over me... there was no way in distinguishing whose blood was whose. I had committed a crime... who knew what would happen to me once I'd reach Ark Rose. Finally breaking the silence, a horrifying noise erupted out of my mouth. Hot tears streamed down my cheeks. I held myself, sobbing like a little baby. This had to be a dream I repeated in my mind... First the fall of Ark Maria... and now this... This was absolute hell.

I think a day after the murder was still stuck in the same place a sat the night before. You would think that some ones childhood would be full of laughter, smiles and pure happiness. God how I wish mine was. Coping after the murder was just so horrifying. I started talking to myself at some point. Probably cause there was no one left in my world. One day had felt like a whole entire year.

The second day after I remember tossing the bodies off the boat. As the boat had sailed away from them, I thought there was a titan that jumped out of the water to swallow them. Once again though, I was completely traumatized so my head could have been messing with me. I had sat back down. Wrapping my arms around myself I cried... I cried and cried... I thought the tears would never end. Till this day it's a struggle to deal with. Back to what happened.

Since I hadn't eaten for 4 days now, I was completely starved. When you don't eat for a day it's pretty uncomfortable. Just think about starving for 4 days... 4 DAYS! It hurt. It hurt a lot... since there was no pure water I had to drink water straight from the ocean. Wow it tasted horrible. Plus the water gave me horrible stomach aches. At least the water would let me live for a few more days. Time was ticking. And damn I was running out of time.

I thought about suicide. I thought about jumping into the water to let myself freeze to death or get eaten by a titan. Whatever came first. I really couldn't deal with this. I had lost everything and everyone. There was no hope left in the world for me. The world is cruel... really fucking cruel. There I was. Standing at the edge of the boat I looked down at the water. I could have jumped in. Could have ended all the pain right there. No... My conscious told me to survive. You need to survive. Fight Xander FIGHT! Stepping away from the ledge I fell back. I began to cry again. What was wrong with me? Why are humans so weak? Why am I so... Weak?

It was the sixth day now. My vision was beginning to give up on me. So was my strength... my whole body was giving up...  
"Beep... Beep... Beep"

"What the..." I remember there was a beeping thing coming from the box. When I went to open the box I found a radio. Like one of those SOS radios. So picking up the thing I pressed the receiver button.

"May...ay... ay...day... thi...is Vale...a...Gu...i...from...Ti...ta…ia... iv... een... stran... in... t... ean... i need... lp...n... medical... plies...plea...respond..." The radio kept breaking in between the distress call. The voice kept repeating the same message over and over again. Finally... I had some sort of hope. Quickly pressing the talk button I sent a broadcast.

"Hello, this is Xander Jaeger from Ark Maria. I've received you're SOS broadcast." I looked at the radio. There had seemed to be some sort of tracking device on it. It showed the location from where the call was coming from. Luckily the call seemed to be close by. "I've received position of where you're located. I should be able to be there shortly." And with that I ended my broadcast.

"YES! Tha...ou..." I walked over to the engine of the boat. I had changed where it was being sent to. Putting in the coordinates of the other radio I sent the boat into that direction instead of sailing to Ark Rose.

Fifteen minutes had passed and I had reached my destination. There I saw a girl that seemed to be about the same age as I was. "HEY!" I called out. She was wearing a life jacket and there had seemed to be a trail of read water around her. "HEY OVER HERE!" I screamed. Finally I caught her attention and swam to the life boat. I helped her get up. Then I saw a nasty flesh wound on her leg. It looked as if something had scrapped its teeth against her leg. I assumed it was a titan. She was extremely pale from the loss of blood. Her lips looked more of a blue then a pink. She was staring at me though as if I was a titan. Wait... shit I had forgotten about all the blood on me and in the boat. "Shh... it's ok... I won't hurt you..." That seemed to be good enough for her since she had calmed down. I never Really told her what happened. "What's your name?"

"V-Valentina Gucci. You can call me Val though. Don't call me Tina though... I hate it..." Valentina seemed as if she was trying to brighten the mood. Heh to be honest it did.

"Why don't we help you get patched up shall we?"

"S-sure..." Then she had passed out. That seemed to be my queue to patch her up as fast as possible. That's how I met my best friend Val.


	2. Chapter 2

Complications of Boat Life

Although it has been almost six years since I first met Xander, I still remember it like it was yesterday. There's something about that guy that makes him easy to remember, and hard to forget –just ask Jessie. But honestly, Xander is a guy who leaves lasting impressions.

It was cold, six years ago. So cold, it was burning. My father had always told me that the sea was treacherous, but I didn't know what he really meant until that day. I remember that day so clearly and yet so distantly. It is a memory that is part recollected and part forgotten. Maybe because somewhere, deep in my mind I had wanted to forget. But the part recollected was how cold it felt. I remember thinking that that was what hellfire must have felt like, so cold it was burning.

And an angel saved me. An angel with golden eyes so bright they gleamed. He saved me from that cold, burning hell. I loved my angel. Now I think back and wonder how on earth I would confuse Xander with an angel. But I guess it makes sense to some degree. Even then, his gold eyes were just as brilliant as they are now, and before, his smile was something I couldn't compare to anything. He doesn't smile like that anymore. I miss the angel that saved me, but I guess what was before can't possibly return anymore.

I loved my angel long before I ever looked at him. I loved his voice, which told me that I had a chance to live when I'd given up. His voice told me I would be okay. His voice that told me his name. Xander.

I loved his hands that bandaged my wounds. His hands, with their long fingers, even when he was a child, six years ago.

But most of all, I loved his heart. His heart wasn't fake, like some of the hearts (heart) I've known. His heart was warm, and it was real. His heart liked me for who I was. I thank him for that. And his heart led me to so many other hearts and to so many other people and I thank him for that. Oh yes, I loved my angel.

My angel was what I dreamt of when I blacked out, and what I remembered when I woke.

"W-where am I …?" I mumbled to myself when I woke those years ago. I looked around me. I was on a boat of some sort. A lifeboat? It didn't look anything like the Titania. Wait. What had happened to the Titania? And with a rush, the memories of the night before came to me and trampled me underfoot. I couldn't breathe. I felt my mouth open and close with hysteria, and my vision went too colourful, reds and greens appearing when I should have only been seeing blue. I slumped over to my side and introduced my face to the floor.

"Hey, are you okay?" I heard a voice say, and then in a lower tone, "um…what was her name again….Vanessa? Veronica?" and he named a bunch more names before I felt good enough to sit up and say,

"Valentina. My name is Valentina." A flash of recognition had flashed through his eyes when I said that.

"Right! But I can call you Val, right?"

"Y-yeah."

"Great!" My vision was clearing up and I saw him come closer as he said that. He held out his hand.

"I'm Alexander," he said as I slowly gave him my hand, "it's a pleasure to meet you, Val!"

"R-right…"

That's what he said, all those years ago, but I couldn't help feeling that something was a bit off in the boy before me. His eyes held an emotion I couldn't recognise. And there was something about the way he seemed when he thought I wasn't looking.

Life on the boat was relatively simple and almost boring. Every morning, Xander would almost always be up before I was, and already have laid out all the supplies we would need for the day. We ate, sat around and did nothing, ate some more and go to bed. I tried starting a conversation with him more than once, and although I sensed that he was sincerely trying, just like I was, the conversations usually died off into silences. It stayed like this until one morning, I woke up with an urgent need to pee.

This, for obvious reasons, wasn't good. Even though I was only ten at the time, I still had a sense of privacy, and no matter how I thought to phrase it, it made for an instant awkward situation. However, being ten, I didn't particularly dislike the occasional awkward situation either.

"I need to go to the washroom."

"Oh."

"No, I really mean it."

"Oh…Wait, what?"

"I need to go to the washroom." That was how the conversation played out, at least, to the best of my recollection.

"Well, that's a problem."

"Yeah, no kidding." At this point, we both collapsed into silence, trying to solve the problem. I looked around the boat, looking for something that might help. I knew for a fact that one of the reasons that Xander got up earlier was to "do his business" off the boat without me noticing, but it wasn't like I could just do that. As I glanced around the boat for the second time, I noticed that Xander was doing the same, and it wasn't long before our eyes met.

"Uh."

"Well."

"Um."

"Yeah." A few attempts to speak ended in failure. As I looked at him, his mouth twitched. A laugh escaped from him, and his bit his lip, trying to stop, but the damage was done. I giggled. And laughed, and he did too. Soon, the air was filled with the sounds of our laughter.

After a couple of minutes spent on laughter on the floor of the boat, I rolled over from my position on my side to my back to look at the sky. I realised with a start that it was my first actual conversation with Xander and I smiled to myself. I look over to Xander and see that he's still laughing.

"Shut up, it's not that funny, Jesus!"

After a few silent gasps, he replied, "Yes it is!" but it wasn't long before he started laughing again.

"Gosh, Xander, will you please shut up!" He looked at me when I said that, then burst into laughter again. I threw a life jacket that was on the boat next me at him, but he easily dodged it. The lifejacket fell into the sea behind him

"What's so funny now?" I demanded.

"Y-you said my name wrong!" he giggled, "It's A-Alexander, and you s-said…" He didn't finish the sentence before collapsing into another fit of laughter again.

"What…?" I looked at him incredulously.

"Y-you said Xander." It was my turn to laugh.

"Oh my God, have you never heard of a nickname before? Do you live in a hole or something?"

"…What?"

"It's a nickname, a nickname, Xander…" This time, I was the one who didn't finish my sentence. I could feel his gaze on me.

"…No, actually…"

"What?" I giggled.

"…I've never had a nickname before…"

"Oh…," I stopped laughing, "…really…?"

"Yeah…"I was stupefied. I mean, what kind of kid never had a nickname? I would later learn of the hundred mysteries of Alexander Jeager, but at that moment, I was just sad for him.

"…I'm sorry…"

"What for?" He looked surprised.

"For laughing at you."

"It's fine," he smiled at me, "after all, I laughed at you too." Right! That reminded me of something…

"Xander..?"

"Yeah?"

"I need to go to the washroom…"

"…Right…"


	3. Chapter 3

Rescue and Salvation

After I rescued Val, it didn't feel so bad anymore. I sometimes wonder what would have happened if I didn't find her. But, as I said, she is one of my best friends now, and life without her would be a lot harder–it also means that I would have to put up with Jesse alone, but I'm getting ahead of myself. Honestly though, Val could be extremely funny and naive sometimes, like when she had to go piss on the boat. God, that was funny.

"Ugh Xander, what do I do?"

"I don't know!" I said, after finally calming down from a maniacal laughing spree, "Maybe, you could just piss of the side of the boat… or something"

"If you haven't realized... I'M A GIRL! I CAN'T DO THAT!" she glared daggers at me. "Besides," she added, "I don't need to 'piss', I need to pee." It was my turn to look astonished.

"Uh, question,"

"What?"

"Did you live on a stranded island or something? 'Cause I'm pretty sure that 'piss' has the same dictionary definition as 'pee'. "

"Well…"

"Huh. I guess you really don't know." There weren't a lot of things that surprised me back then, but this certainly did. I mean, what ten-year-olds didn't know what piss was? Hell, I knew when I was seven. I peered at her face, which was starting to grow as red as a tomato. _Really innocent ones, _I decided.

But, as much as I found the situation hilarious, who knew that complaining people would be so _funny, _it was a sort-of serious problem, and one that I decidedly solved upon glancing at some emergency supplies in the corner. I quickly walked over, and rummaged through them.

"What are you doing?" Val asked me. She seemed confused by my actions.

"Solving our problem," I answer, and lifting a blanket, I found a red bucket that laid there. Bingo! The people who packed these boats were thorough.

"Oi, Val, catch!" I threw the bucket at her. Luckily she caught it. If she hadn't then it would have fell into the ocean.

"What am I supposed to do with a bucket?!" Her initial surprised soon ended when she spied the words 'EMERGENCY RELIEF BUCKET' printed on the side in capital white lettering.

"W-Wait WHAT!" Val's face once again became flustered. I swear to god that she had turned pink in the face more than 10 times in the past 10 minutes. "You really think I'm gonna pee in this?"

"It's the only way Val... unless you're able to hold it in for who knows how long." I said, holding back a snicker, "Oh come on! Stop giving me that look." However funny this was, I really hadn't wanted to deal with Valentina complaining because she pissed her pants. "Come on Val!"

"UGH FINE! J-Just don't look okay? This is already super embarrassing."

"Haha. Fine, fine. I wasn't planning on watching anywa-"

"XANDER!" And the way she yelled my name, along with that face? Priceless. Absolutely priceless. And, being the respectful person I was (still am, to tell you the truth), I turned around and walked to the other end of the boat. I had to bite my lip the whole time she peed, because the bucket made the sound of her peeing two times as loud. I swear to god if her 'relief break' had lasted any longer, I would have bitten through my lip. Fortunately, I never did find out, because the ungentlemanly gentleman I was (still am, to tell you the truth), a huge laugh erupted through my mouth. As a reward I had gotten something (I later found out that it was a water bottle) and the words "XANDER SHUT UP!" thrown at my head. (Apparently, words could be thrown too). That just made it even funnier.

When Val was finally done she called me over.

"Now what?"

"Now~, you throw your piss into the ocean, dummy."

"But..," she hesitated.

"But, what?"

"W-what if the titans smell it and find us?" fear was plastered onto the girl's face.

"Are you serious? That's not going to happen..," I was prepared to laugh it off, but I found that she _was_ being serious.

"No, they can, I read somewhere that they can, and that they could follow scents and that they could find us and that they…," she rambled off a few more mumbled words.

"No, they won't! Geez, stop being so paranoid!" but seeing that she was still a bit out of it I add, "Hey, it'll be fine, okay?"

"B-but..."

"Val... I promise you they won't show up. If you want I can dump it into the water for you." I offered. She nodded. Val passed me the bucket. I noticed that her hands were shaking. Taking the bucket from her, I quickly poured the urine into the sea.

"There," I said, turning around to face Val, who was still shaking, "All done. And we're not dead!" I added as a joke. But then, I realised there was nothing to joke about. Yes, we're not dead. But we could die tomorrow or the day after. That was the cruel world we lived in. However, I was determined to make Val feel better, so I sat down next to her and held her. It was the first time that I realised I was taller than her.

"Sh. It's going to be alright. Okay? I promise-" I lifted her chin up so she would look at me, "-trust me." I looked at her eyes, which were brimming. Finally she broke into tears. Her ugly sobs were muffled into my shoulder. I clutched her tightly. It was then I realised that Val was really scared of them. I mean, everyone is, but she really was scared. I started to cry as well. I didn't even know why. Now, I think that it was simply because the world I lived in. I was able to stand strong for a while, but little by little, my barriers tore down, and the world caught up to me. Even now, I think that some part of me is still on my knees, unable to stand again.

A couple days had passed after Val and I had a meltdown. That day I wasn't really in a good mood. Everything made me either upset or pissed off. I had ignored Val for most of the day. She tried to talk to me ask what was wrong but I didn't reply. I wasn't even sure why I was upset anyways. It was just another complication of world catching, though I didn't realise it. Finally, the sun set, and I just couldn't hold it in anymore. All my emotions broke free and I sat there with sobs running through my body.

X-Xander? You… Okay?" Val's words were bit slurry. I replied with a sob. She crawled in front of me. Warm tears streamed down my cheeks. "Xander, what's wrong? You've been upset all day." Val placed a hand against my cheek. Her callused thumb rubbed away the tear. "Please..."

I didn't answer, and Val didn't try to push the subject any further. It took about an hour for me to calm down.

"Do you want to talk about it now?"

"N-No"

"Well, whenever you're ready to talk about it I'm here, okay?" Nodding in response, I laid down. Falling asleep an old memory came back to me.

"_Alexander! Dinner's ready!" My mother yelled, her voice ringing. I could always hear my mom no matter where I was in district A-39. I ran into the suite my family shared. We were better off than some of the other kids I knew. The smell of roasted potatoes danced in my nose. My mom was the best cook I had ever known. I walked to the table where dinner was waiting for me. Sitting down, I gave my dinner another quick sniff. Roasted potatoes, ribs and salad! My dad worked in the agriculture department, so we always had relatively good food, but we didn't get ribs or potatoes often. Grabbing my fork I took a piece of potato. Finally taking a bite and explosion of flavours erupted. Taking more bites of my dinner, I started to choke._

"_Alexander, slow down when you're eating. I don't want you to die because you choked on a piece of potato." Mom laughed at me._

"_Sorry mom. It's just soooo good!" I whined._

"_I'm happy you like it Alexander." She turned around and when back to the kitchen. Smiling for no reason I continued to eat my dinner._

Beep... Beep... Beep...

A continual beeping sound woke me the next morning.

"Nff... Where's that coming from?" I groaned. Rubbing my eyes, I turned my head to face Val. Val was sound asleep. How did she sleep through that? I got up and shook her aggressively she woke up too. "Do you hear that, Val?"

"Y-ya... what is it?" she accompanied that with a giant yawn

"I dunno. Help me look for it?"

"Sure" It didn't take long to find the source, which was the S.O.S. radio that got Val's signal. I was surprised to not have recognised it.

"How would there people sending signals still? It's been ages since the fall. "

"I'm not sure…,"I pondered. After a few moments of silence-

"Well are you going to answer it?"

"Oh! Yeah, of course." Grabbing the radio I pressed the receive button. "H-Hello?"

After a few moments of static, we heard someone speak to us. Well, not directly.

"Hey! Mike! Get up! Get Up! They got the call the call! God…WILL YOU GET UP!" We were slightly stunned by this, but I assumed that the 'they' she (at least, I think it was a she), were us, so I kept listening. Another voice joined the fray.

"Well, it was about time-"The man yawned "- Hanji, I don't know how you can be so energetic in the morning…." I assumed that this was Mike, and the previous person was Hanji.

"Ahem. Hello? I mean, Hello. This is Zoe Hanji from Ark Rose. Do you read? I REPEAT! Gosh I've never done this before! I mean I REPEAT! DO YOU READ." The last bit was said so loud that I jumped and Val slightly backed away.

"Um. Yeah? I mean…Hello?"

"Oh God. It's a kid." This was Mike. "Oi! Ackerman! We've got ourselves a kid."

Val giggled next to me. I had to admit, this was funny.

"Well, actually," she corrected, "two kids."

"Well, gosh," Hanji was back, and in the background Mike was yelling at someone called Ackerman to 'get down here'. It seems like this 'Ackerman' finally came, because we were introduced to a new voice.

"What's with all this fray? And Zoe, STOP! WHAT ARE YOU DOING! DON'T TOUCH THAT STUFF" Static came back and a moment later, the new voice mike called 'Ackerman"

"Hello, this is Saiki Ackerman of Ark Rose. We found a life jacket which was presumably thrown aboard imprinted with this serial number. May I ask who I am speaking to?"

"Uh. Hi. My name is Xander Jeager. A-and I'm with-"

"Valentina Gucci" Val said after.

"Yeah, and we're um, well, I am a survivor from Ark Maria"

"And I'm from an authorized INA boat, called Titania, which sank a couple of weeks ago." There was a certain sort-of stunned silence.

"…you survived on your own all this time? The fall was nearly a month ago!"

"Y-yeah"

"Okay, the S.O.S. radio is on a sort-of of stand, right?"

"Y-yeah."

"Do you see a box next to it?"

"Uh-huh."

"Open it" I did.

"Now, in the box, there's four guns, right?"

"Y-yeah." He seemed to sense my discomfort, and he added-

"Don't worry, they're not real guns, they send flares" Relieved, I nodded but I realised that he couldn't see me, and I hurriedly said,

"Yeah."

"The first on from the left is black, it's used for titan sightings. The second one is red, that's for emergencies. The next one is yellow. That's the one you need. Just take it out and shoot it into the sky."

"Okay..?"

"Normally, we would find you by GPS, but the battery in your lifeboat probably ran out."

Okay. I can do this. Slowly, I raised my hand and pointed the gun to the sky.

BANG!

A yellow flare trailed up. I returned the gun to its case and waited for what seemed like an eternity.

"We have received your signal. Expect us in the next 24 hours."

Yes. YES. _YES!_ I was so overwhelmed I couldn't say anything, so Val replied for me.

"Thank you! Thank you so so so much!" Valentina shouted in glee.

"You are very welcome, Valentina. Oh, and Xander?" Hanji said.

"Y-yeah?"

"That was perfect."


	4. Chapter 4

Past and Present

"…..W-What…? Where am I…?" I lazily got up and looked around. And blinked. Even after six years of living on Ark Rose, I still sometimes woke up expecting to be on the _Titania, _or better yet, the life boat. I glanced at Lori's bed, only to find it empty. Then I looked at the digital clock imbedded into the wall on my room. Flashing in bright neon blue colour were the numbers '6:00'. "Oh shit!" I yelled, "I'm going to be late!" and I dashed out the room.

I woke up in that same way six years ago. Only the last time, it was with fear. Fear that melted into a feverish excitement.

_Wha…? What is this? Where am I…? I was lying on a small cot in a room of metal, not so unlike my cabin in the _Titania._ The room was bare except for a small writing desk, a chair, and the cot I was now sitting. Oh, and there was a smooth black surface imbedded into the wall so neatly that I would have mistaken it for the wall. Only then, the surface flashed, and a mechanical flat unisex voice came on. Only, I couldn't see any speakers. Huh. _

"THIS IS A MESSAGE FOR ALL ARK MARIA SURVIVORS AND ALL INA MEMBERS WHO HAVE BEEN INFLUENCED BY THE FALL."_ The flat unisex voice said all that while the words appeared on the black screen. INA members? I've never heard that term before. I had always assumed that INA stood for Independent Non-Ark. 'Independent Non-Ark members' doesn't really make much sense. I was still pondering about this when I realised that the announcement was almost over._

"… AUDITORIUM NUMBER NINE. THANK YOU."

_"Oh no nonononono. Wait!" I cried as the voice disappeared and the screen went dead. "Great. Just great." I had missed practically the whole announcement! But at least I was pretty sure that I was on Ark Rose. I thought back to when Xander shot the flare. And then…wait…what? I couldn't remember. I racked my brain as hard as I could. Nope. Nothing. Huh. Weird. But that brought to mind a new thing. Xander! Where's Xander? I paced around my room when it suddenly hit me. God, I am stupid. What did the voice say? Auditorium number nine, wasn't it? And it was supposed to be an announcement for Ark Maria survivors and INA members, right? So the logical explanation was…. I didn't even finish the thought as I dashed out the door._

_I didn't go far along in that metal bound corridor when I finally realised that I had absolutely no idea where auditorium number nine was. Or where I was. I cursed myself for not listening to the announcement properly. I was wandering around, hoping to find someone who would show me the way when that flat, unisex voice came on again._

"THIS IS A MESSAGE FOR ALL ARK MARIA SURVIVORS AND ALL INA MEMBERS WHO HAVE BEEN INFLUENCED BY THE FALL."_ Oh! "_THE MEETING IN AUDITORIUM NUMBER NINE WILL BEGIN IN TEN MINUTES"_…SHOOT. I ran through the corridor, hoping this time, that I would magically stumble to the auditorium. Fortunately, I did stumble. Unfortunately, I stumbled into a wall. Or rather a person. Or rather, a girl. A really pretty girl. She had long blond hair that put my short brown messy mop I call hair to shame. Plus, she was really tall. She looked like she was about 12 or 13, maybe, and again, she was really pretty._

_"Ohmygoshiamsosorryiwasn'tlookingwhereiwasgoingand..,"I stammered an apology. What was that, Valentina Gucci? I took a deep breath and tried again. "I-I mean, I'm r-really s-sorry…" I trailed off. What is with me today? Luckily, the girl didn't seem to be offended, and flashed me a smile. Like I said, pretty._

_"No, its fine…"she said, and held out a hand to help me up, "…what's your name?"_

"_Valentina Gucci. But you can call me Val. Don't call me Tina. I hate it." I rambled automatically. Then I scolded myself for rambling, but she didn't seem to mind. Pretty and nice._

_"It's fine, Val-don't-call-me-Tina," pretty and nice and funny, "just be more careful next time, alright?" I nodded. "By-the-way, where are you hurrying to?"_

_I explained my dilemma to the pretty girl and she was nice enough to point me the way to auditorium number nine. Apparently, I had just past it. I thanked her and started to walk away, before I realised that I didn't know her name. I called out to her._

_"My name is Jessica!" she yelled back, "but you can call me Jessie!"_

I rushed my way to auditorium number nine, where we were supposed to meet. The smell of fresh bread wafted to me as ran past the mess hall. Breathe in... Breathe out. _No time to buy anything to eat, _I told my growling stomach, and I sighed. "Why, oh why, didn't Lori wake me up!?" I fumed as I finally tore myself away from the mess hall.

Jessie and Lori were already there. Apparently, Xander had slept in too, which was kind-of surprising. I would have thought that he'd be the first one up. It was our first mission after-all. What wasn't surprising was the absence of one Saiki Ackerman. Saiki was always late. And when I mean late, I don't mean five or ten minutes late. I mean and hour to two hours late. _Always. _I sighed. I had hoped that he'd at least be on time for the mission, but apparently not. Come to think of it, he was late the first time I met him too...

_I burst through the doors of auditorium number nine, preparing a whole bunch of excuses for my tardiness, then stopped. I felt my jaw drop to the floor. It had never occurred to me to me before how big the Arks were. I mean, I knew that they were big, but sizes didn't really register well in my mind. As a ten year old, and a fairly short ten year old to boot, everything was big to me. But this... this was huge. _

_It was a gigantic room of metal, like the cabin I had come from, but larger. Much larger. Beams crisscrossed the ceiling in a way that made it look extremely sophisticated. The floor was polished, not a scratch to be seen._

_And the people! There were so many people in the room! It wasn't until now that I realised that I had feared that perhaps, Xander and I were the only ones who survived. And being alone on that little lifeboat hadn't helped it either. It was a while before I realised that all of the people were either coming from or going to a spot in the room. I got closer and saw a sign on the same smooth black surface as the one I had received the announcement on. The sign read: '_SURVIVOR REGISTRY'_ in big bold letters. _

_"Um... Excuse me?" I called to random people around me, but they all ignored me. They were either too busy, too sad, too angry, or too oblivious (like that little kid I tried to talk too). I sighed. I wasn't going to find out anything this way, and the Survivor Registry was far too crowded; I couldn't even hope to get closer. Defeated, I went to stand by the door._

_Just I as was debating whether to stay or not, someone crashed into me, not unlike the way I had crashed into the pretty girl, Jessie, earlier. She stood up quickly, gave a quick, "Sorry!" before running off. And running back. _Huh?

_She stared at me for a while. I stared back. It was getting rather awkward, and suddenly she gave a big "AH HAH", and I jumped back. She must have noticed my reaction, because then she said, "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you, I just thought that I knew you from somewhere."_

_"You know me..?" This was getting creepier by the second._

_"Yeah! My name is Zoe Hanji..." She looked at me hopefully. It was a while before I recognised the name._

_"Oh! You're that weird person who got yelled at on the radio!" _

_"Aw... The weird person that got yelled at? That's mean..," She pouted. I_

_laughed. _

_"Why are in such a hurry?"_

_"OH RIGHT!" I jumped. I think she must like, yell, at least every second. "I'm supposed to give an announcement to the INA and the Survivors with Ackerman, but WHERE IS HE?! You haven't seen him, have you?" I shook my head. Ackerman? Oh that guy who yelled at Zoe!_

_"Can I help you look for him?"_

_"Nah, Saiki's always late. If he's not here, then he's probably not here... Thanks though!" She called as she ran off again. I blinked. Zoe was really like a storm. She was probably here for ten second, max. _

_"Oh shoot! I could've asked her where to go!" I stood there, dejected, with my head down. I was seriously considering leaving. There were too many people I didn't know, and I still hadn't found Xander, and still didn't know what I was doing here. A pair of feet entered my field of view._

_"Huh..?" I looked up. There was a girl attached to the pair of feet. She had long black hair that was pulled up into a ponytail, and she had really big grey eyes. She was also short, like me, but her height was justified by her obvious young-ness. _

_"Are you lost?" I found myself saying. She nodded. "Well," I smiled at the little girl, "I'm lost too. Do you want to be lost with me?" She nodded again. She moved to stand next to me at the wall. "What's your name?"_

_"Lori... Lori Rivaille"_

It's hard to imagine Lori as the little girl she was before, I noted, as I glanced over to her slim form. She was taller than me now (aren't they all), and although she still spoke with the same quietness as she did back then. Meaning, she didn't speak unless absolutely necessary. Speaking of quietness, I looked over at Jessie. Jessie was constantly making noise, especially when Xander was there. That made me sort-of glad that Xander wasn't here. If Xander was here, Jessie would waste no time fawning over him. But still, this silence was quit unusual for Jessie. I was just going over when-

"HELLO TEAM FOUR HOW ARE WE TODAY!"

Oh no.

Alexander Jeager had arrived.

_We must have looked weird, the two of us, a brunette and a raven haired, standing against the wall, but I think it was all rather comfortable. We stood in silence, but it was a good silence. A good, cozy silence in that gigantic room of so many people, so similar to us, yet so different. Not for the first time that day, I felt a distinct feeling of loneliness, and something else I could only name as loss. _

_I looked over to Lori, her piercing grey eyes surveying everything in sight. I wondered if she had lost her family too. I wondered if she was feeling the same feeling of loss right now. I wished Xander was here. Xander was crazy and eccentric, but he understood me. He shared that feeling of loss. I'd known it ever since that day on the boat, with both of our feelings stripped bare. It was a feeling I thought that only I had known. And now, as I look over to Lori, and her eyes met mine, I knew that I had another member of out loss party._

_As I was musing all of this to myself, the crowd became quiet, and a bright light shone onto the middle of the floor. I vaguely remembered what Zoe had said about an announcement to be made. _Zoe must have found him then... what was his name... Saiki, was it? _Just as I thought that, a man with black hair stepped out into the spot light. He looked to be in his twenties, around 25, maybe, and he had extremely... h-hand..some...face... I think I melted right then and there. But he was EXTREMELY good-looking, and EXTREMELY cool-looking. He look all _ooh! _and_ aah! _worthy. I was so caught up with admiring him that I almost missed the announcement...AGAIN. Luckily for me, it wasn't all that important, but still, I might have missed the whole thing if it wasn't for the sudden appearance of one whirlwind Zoe Hanji._

_"Hello everyone!" she beamed at the crowd. "I have a few announcements to make that are v-e-r-y important, so be sure to listen carefully, ooookkkaaayyyy?" I swear, she actually said that. She looked down at a clipboard that she was holding. "So, first things first, can the following people please come to meeting room 416, and that's just down the hall to the right," and almost as if she couldn't hold it in, "ooookkkaaayyy?" She follow that with a string of names that I really couldn't careless about, much less remember. I was just immersing myself in the beautifulness of one Saiki Ackerman when I heard it. "...aaand Monte Gucci..." I've only ever heard that name twice in my life, but I remembered every letter._

_Monte Gucci_

_My father's name._

Some people say that Hell it burning. Others say that Hell is cold. _I _say that Hell is loud. Why? Because of _that._

Xander: Hey hey hey! Imma here!

Me: *rolls eyes*

Lori: *looks annoyed*

Jessie: *_* …..XANDER~~~~~

Xander: *face palm* Oh God...

Jessie: XANDER MY BB~~

Xander and Jessie: *Proceeds to chase each other in a circle with occasional bursts from Jessie calling: _Xander~~~ _or yells from Xander going _GETTAWAYFROMME _et cetera, et cetera...*

Me: *face continually turns purple (I think) from pent up anger* SHUTTAP!

Jessie and Xander: *looks at me*..._XANDER~~! GETTAWAYFROMME!_

Me and Lori: *sigh*

I wished that Saiki would come soon.

_I was confused. No.. I was astounded. How did they know his name? More importantly, was he here? I looked around frantically. People were leaving the auditorium, but I couldn't find him. Was he here? Was he HERE? WAS HE HERE? Or maybe, he was already in the meeting room! Yes, that must be it! I pushed through the crowd as fast as I could to where I could see the people were going to. But I was little and the crowds covered the paths again. _No..

_A hand touched my shoulder. It took me awhile to realise that the announcements were over, and I had, once again, missed them. I stood up to move out of the way, then stopped in surprise. Looking down at me was one sheepish smile from one sheepish Alexander Jeager. He raised me off the floor, and I hugged him. I could sense his surprise, but I mentally begged him to let me hug him for a while longer._

_There was too much that I didn't know. Too many people. Too many places. Too many mysteries. Too many. Too many. Too many. And, like a wave, it all crashed over me, and I think I might have cried. I was thrown out from what I'd known for all my life, and thrown into an unknown so deep, so alien, and so... unkown. _

Saiki had finally arrived. Jessie stopped fooling around, Xander breathed a sigh of relief, Lori was just the way she was, and me? I was ready. I was more than ready. I didn't have to look at the rest of my teammates to see if they were ready, because I knew they were. We had been preparing for this for the last three years and will be preparing for this for the rest of our life.

"Do you, the Team Four, pledge to always put the survival of humanity before your own lives?"

"We do."

"Do you, each and every one of you, have the courage to venture out into abysses and unknowns where man has never been?"

"We do."

"Do you, Lori Rivaille, Valentina Gucci, Alexander Jeager, and Jessie Smith, vow to swear undying loyalty to humanity, to the Survey Corps, and to Ark Rose?"

"We do."

"Team Four, _why do we fight?"_

"For the survival of humanity!"

"Team Four, _who do we fight for?"_

_"_Each and everyone of us!"

"Team four, _when do we fight?"_

_"_Now!"

"WHEN DO WE FIGHT?"

"NOW!"

"AND, LAST OF ALL! WHAT ARE WE FIGHTING!"

"THE UNKNOWN!"

"SO, TEAM FOUR... ARE WE READY?"

Did he even have to ask?

_WE ARE_

_WE'VE BEEN READY ALL THIS TIME. READY..._

FOR THE ATTACK ON THE UNKNOWN


End file.
